The Crowdbotics Guide to Category Creation: Building the Code Operations Movement
Creating a new category requires more than coining a term – it demands fundamentally changing how people think about solving problems. In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, Anand Kulkarni revealed how Crowdbotics is establishing “code operations” as more than just another tech buzzword.
Beyond Low Code: Identifying the Category Gap
When Crowdbotics started, they saw a fundamental problem with existing approaches. “Low code is this category that’s been around for 15 years now. This idea that you could write less code, empower people who are not developers to go and write the code and make the developer obsolete,” Anand explains.
The problem? “Nothing really important in terms of the software that we all use and drive every day, none of that’s been built on low code. It’s all been built in full code,” Anand notes. This gap between promise and reality created the opportunity for a new category.
Defining Code Operations
Rather than just offering a better product, Crowdbotics is championing a new approach. “Crowdbotics takes this approach that’s really opening up a new category, code ops, which is the idea that we can use artificial intelligence and historical requirements to change the way that we are building software,” Anand explains.
He positions code ops as “a little bit like a superset of DevOps or dev sec ops, which were motions that thought about how to empower the developer to be more efficient. Code ops shifts this entire discussion left.”
Building Movement Momentum
Instead of trying to own the term exclusively, Crowdbotics positions itself as part of a broader movement. “Good movements exist independently of companies. Good companies exist to empower and enable that movement,” Anand observes.
This approach helps build credibility. As Anand notes, when they talk about code reuse and code ops with customers, “they all say something like, we have always known code reuse is possible. We want to be more efficient. We don’t know how to start in finding which modules of code we can reuse from our own ecosystem while maintaining governance.”
Finding Category Co-Champions
Crowdbotics actively seeks allies in building the category. “GitHub is one example. Crabotics has been built around GitHub, actually, since its inception,” Anand shares. “We’re excited to see that GitHub has been thinking about inner sourcing for a long time, and we’re excited to see places that we can continue to align with folks like that who are looking at this element and these questions of reuse.”
Measuring Success
The strategy is working. “For the last three years, we have doubled or tripled top line revenue every year. So 200% to 300% growth,” Anand reveals. Much of this growth comes from large customers building mission-critical systems, validating that code ops isn’t just a theoretical concept.
The Future of the Movement
Crowdbotics sees code ops becoming fundamental to software development. “Codeops is a movement that is taking the world by storms. People are realizing there are better ways to build software,” Anand declares. “People are shifting left in their thinking about how and when to think about the code part of their software.”
Their ultimate vision? “We are looking to create the next billion applications. Mission critical, meaningful, large scale applications on Crowdbotics,” Anand states.
For founders considering category creation, Crowdbotics’ approach offers valuable lessons:
- Identify fundamental problems with existing solutions
- Position your category as an evolution of familiar concepts
- Build alliances with established players
- Focus on enabling a movement rather than owning a term
- Demonstrate category value through customer success
The key is creating something bigger than your company. As Anand’s experience shows, successful category creation isn’t about owning a term – it’s about leading a meaningful shift in how an industry works.